FILLING HIS BOOTS

A DENTIST who won #64,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? was yesterday jailed for four years for a record NHS fraud.

A DENTIST who won #64,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? was yesterday jailed for four years for a record NHS fraud.

David Heppleston claimed #450,000 over eight-and-a-half years for work on "ghost" patients and fictitious treatment on real clients.

He used the cash to prop up a bar business, pay debts and buy a bigger house, York crown court heard.

Judge Paul Hoffman said of his deception: "It was sophisticated. It was blatant. It was motivated by greed and nothing has been recovered."

Heppleston's wife had died leaving him to raise his son. The judge said he felt for his "wretched" situation but added professionals must be "scrupulously honest". Suspicions surfaced after Heppleston, 45, who ran a surgery in Scarborough, claimed to have fitted a huge number of crowns.